2.

The Atmosphere
The first essential in the estimation (or measurement) of the performance of an aircraft
are:
- the knowledge of the state of the atmosphere in which the aircraft is flying (Ch 2)
- the ability to measure the relative motion between the aircraft and the
atmospheric air mass (Ch 3)
The state of the atmosphere is defined by its temperature (T) and pressure (p).
2.1. Characteristics of the atmosphere

The atmosphere consists of air, which is a mixture of the following gases:

- N (nitrogen)
78%
99%
- O (oxygen)
21%
- Ar (Argon)
0.9%
- CO2 (carbon dioxide)
0.03%
- other inert gases
rest
+ dust particles, water vapour & moisture
(little effect on gaseous properties)

2. The Atmosphere
Atmospheric air can be taken to behave as a neutral gas obeying the state equation:

p .R.T

p - pressure [N/m2]
- density [kg/m3]
T - temperature [K]
R gas constant = 287.053 [Nm/kg/K]

2.2. Variation of properties

Temperature and pressure varies through the atmosphere, both along the surface of
the Earth as well as vertically by altitude.
Surface variation of T

Temperature varies by:

time

- short term (day & night)

- long term (seasons)
location - along latitude (poles are cooler than equator)
- land mass distribution (deserts, mountains, etc.)
2

2. The Atmosphere
North Pole: - warmer than South Pole, since
- lies at sea level, middle of an ocean
(which acts as a heat sink)

Equator:

- small seasonal variation

- high mean temperature

Temporal
variation

Poles:

- large seasonal variation

- low mean temperature

Latitude

Geographical variation

Temperature variation by time and location: mean seasonal global temperature distribution.
(Source: M.E. Eshelby: Aircraft Performance: Theory and Practice, AIAA Educational Series, 2000.)

2. The Atmosphere
Surface variation of p

Pressure varies by:

- time

- air transportation from higher temperature

regions to lower ones leads to convection
currents.
These would normally take place along lines
of longitude, but Coriolis forces due to the
Earths rotation cause the flow to swirl and
create a series of convection current cells, such
as:
CYCLONS (low pressure cells)
ANTI-CYCLONS (high pressure cells)

General global atmosphere pressure distribution.

(Source: M.E. Eshelby: Aircraft Performance: Theory and Practice,
AIAA Educational Series, 2000.)

- location - land masses

Result: constantly changing complex pressure distribution over the Earths surface.

2. The Atmosphere
Idealized
gunshot
towards A

Coriolis effect - creation of cyclons

Instead of A,
it will land in
B due to the
U.S.of
rotation
Earth

North

U.S.

West

North

West

East

East
B

Coriolois
deflection

Relative to the Earths surface

South

South

North
U.S.

West

Real path
(curved towards
West)

Intended
path

East

which means
South

2. The Atmosphere

Coriolis effect - creation of cyclons

in the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE:

North South airflows:

deflect WEST

South North airflows:

deflect EAST
U.S.

West East airflows:

deflect SOUTH

East West airflows:

deflect NORTH

(assuming our path is in a plane going through

the centre of Earth the Great Circle route)

2. The Atmosphere

Coriolis effect - creation of cyclons

this forms a counter-clockwise system in a low pressure system:

U.S.

Low
pressure

U.S.

Note:

Hurricane Katrina in Aug 2005 was created in

the Northern Hemisphere, hence, she had a
COUNTER-CLOCKWISE rotation.
(Source: www.wikipedia.com)

this is valid ONLY for the Northern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere, the
opposite will be true, i.e. CLOCKWISE loops will be created there.

2. The Atmosphere
Papua-New Guinea

U.S.

CUBA

MEXICO
Australia (Queensland)

Hurricane Rita Northern Hemisphere

17-26 September 2005

Cyclone Ingrid Southern Hemisphere

6-17 March 2005

(Source: www.wikipedia.com)

(Source: www.wikipedia.com)

2. The Atmosphere
Vertical variation of T

The Earths atmosphere is heated by radiation from the Sun. However,

- some of the energy is reflected back to the space by the atmosphere (~38%)
- some is absorbed by the atmosphere (~14%)
- rest passes through to the Earths surface (~48%)
Absorption is not uniform but selective in the different layers of the atmosphere,
yielding a complex temperature-height profile.
0-11 [km]: TROPOSPHERE - water vapour and CO2 absorb radiation well,
creating a warm layer
11-50 [km]: STRATOSPHERE - little water vapour, little absorption, cool air layer

2. The Atmosphere

Vertical temperature structure

Of the atmosphere.
(Source: M.E. Eshelby: Aircraft
Performance: Theory and
Practice, AIAA Educational
Series, 2000.)

10

2. The Atmosphere
50-80 [km]: MESOSPHERE

- large ozone (O3) content increases absorbivity of

the ultraviolet spectrum of Suns radiation,
leading to another warm layer, however, cooling
down with decreasing pressure (increasing H).

80-300 [km]: THERMOSPHERE - very few particles (hence very low pressure)
but this is another very warm layer, as
temperature rises from 190 [K] (-83oC) to
1000 [K]. However, because of the thinness of
the air, this temperature would not be felt on the
human body and is only a kinetic temperature,
which governs the speed of the molecules in the
thermosphere.

300 [km] - : EXOSPHERE

- forms boundary with space

100 [km] von Krmn line, (imaginary boundary where aerodynamic forces become
minimal) is defined as the boundary of the space by the US Air Force
Office of Aerospace Research.
11

2. The Atmosphere
The thickness of these layers changes with latitude too:

Temperature-height
profiles measured at
7 different latitude
locations.

Equator

North Pole

Tropopause thickness
distribution reduced from
above data.
(Source: M.E. Eshelby: Aircraft
Performance: Theory and Practice,
AIAA Educational Series, 2000.)

12

2. The Atmosphere
Conclusion: it is impossible to account for all the above variations of (T) and (p). Hence, a
model atmosphere has been introduced, which is called .

2.3. The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA)

with datum values at H=0 [m]:
p0 = 101,325 [N/m2]
0 = 1.225 [kg/m3]
T0 = 288.15 [K] = 15 [oC]

Mean seasonal sea-level

values at 45N latitude

The temperature variation in any of the layers is defined as:

T Ti Li ( H H i )
Temperature lapse rate
(defined as in the following
graph)

13

2. The Atmosphere
Temperature profile of the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA)
(Source: M.E. Eshelby: Aircraft Performance: Theory and Practice, AIAA Educational Series, 2000.)

14

2. The Atmosphere
This gives the temperature variation only. But since we have 3 variables in the state
equation (p, ,T), we need at least one more variable to define.

p f (H )

can be defined as:

since lower layers of air must support the weight of upper ones:

F 0
p. A m.g ( p dp). A 0
p. A .V .g p. A dp. A 0
.( A.dh).g dp. A 0
.g.dh dp
dp
.g
dh

15

2. The Atmosphere
From the state equation:
Back-substituting:

Inserting

T Ti Li ( H H i )

p
R.T

dp
p

g
dh
R.T
dp
g

dh
p
R.T
for T yields:

g0
dp

dh
p
RTi Li ( H H i )
Note:

in the above equation, we assumed a constant g = g0, which represents the gravitational acceleration at
the Earth surface, g0 = 9.80665 m.s-2. This is a further assumption we make for constructing the ISA
model atmosphere. In reality, g varies with latitude for two reasons:
a) Earth radius is not constant: radius at poles is 20 km less than at Equator. Since g is
proportional to the distance from the centre of Earth, g at Equator will be less than at the
poles.
b) centrifugal acceleration due to the rotation of Earth is larger at the Equator. This further
reduces the value of g at the equator.
16
Nevertheless, assuming a constant g for ISA leads to less then 1% error below H = 65 km altitude.

2. The Atmosphere
And integrating in each layer yields:
g
R . L0

TROPOSPHERE

p L0
1 H
p0 T0

Lower STRATOSPHERE

p
g

H H11
ln
RT
p11

(using Li=0)

Upper STRATOSPHERE

p L20
1
( H H 20 )
p20 T20

Thus, we have the variations of T=f(H) and p=f(H) and we can get
the state equation.

g
R . L20

f (H ) from

17

2. The Atmosphere

2.4. Relative properties

relative pressure
relative density
relative temperature

p
p0

0
T

T0

H [m]

11,000

22.3 %

36.4 %

20,000

5.4 %

8.8%

18

2. The Atmosphere

Variation of relative properties in the ISA.

(Source: M.E. Eshelby: Aircraft
Performance: Theory and Practice,
AIAA Educational Series, 2000.)

19

2. The Atmosphere
2.5. Off-standard and design atmospheres
The ISA is only a model atmosphere. The real atmosphere encountered at any given time
and place will generally not conform to the ISA model. Any atmosphere that does not conform
to the ISA profile is referred to as an
off-standard atmosphere.
It is often required to design an aircraft for, or to estimate the performance of an aircraft, in
off-standard conditions, such as for arctic or desert operations. The atmospheres which are
designed to cover the likely extreme variations in datum level temperatures are referred to as
design atmospheres.
These are most often T-H profiles parallel to the ISA model profile, displaced by an increment
in datum temperature. Examples of design atmospheres as defined by the European airworthiness codes of practice, JAR (Joint Aviation Regulations) are shown on the next
graphs.

20

2. The Atmosphere

Design atmospheres in terms of

a)
Pressure heights,
b)
Geopotential heights,
according to JAR 25.
(Source: M.E. Eshelby: Aircraft
Performance: Theory and Practice,
AIAA Educational Series, 2000.)

21

2. The Atmosphere
2.6. Altitude Definitions
absolute altitude (ha)

- measured from the Earth centre

geometric altitude (hG)

- measured from the Earth surface

geopotential altitude (h) - fictitious altitude for ISA table calculations, assuming
g = const = go for the entire atmosphere (not true, but the
r
hG
h
error does not exceed 1% below H = 65 km)

r hG

pressure altitude (hp)

temperature altitude (hT)

density altitude (h)

ISA altitudes corresponding to actual p, T or . They

are usually inconsistent with real conditions but serve
as a useful reference.

22

2. The Atmosphere
Example: in the real (not the idealized ISA) atmosphere, the
following conditions (satisfying the state equation) were
measured at H=3,100 [m]:

0.809095[kg / m3 ]
p 61640[ N / m 2 ]
T 265.4[ K ]
which all correspond to a different ISA altitude:
h = 8,400 [m]
hp = 4,000 [m]
hT = 3,500 [m]

We usually use the geopotential altitude for aircraft & spacecraft performance
calculations.
23

2. The Atmosphere
2.7. Units
Although the ISA is defined by reference to metric heights, international aircraft operations
are currently required to be flown by reference to altimeters calibrated in imperial units, i.e.
feet. Since the performance of aircraft is associated with practical operations, heights are
generally referred to in feet, rather than in meters, in performance analysis.
In this course, both metric and imperial units will be used for indicating height. All
other parameters (pressure, temperature, density, etc.) will be provided in metric units,
according to the basic definition of ISA.
2.8. Jet Streams
Jet streams are fast flowing, confined air currents found in the atmosphere at around 12 km
above the surface of the Earth, just under the tropopause. They form at the boundaries of
adjacent air masses with significant differences in temperature, such as those of the polar
region and the warmer air at the South (the meridian temperature gradient). Because of the
effect of the Earth's rotation the streams flow West to East, propagating in a serpentine or
wave-like manner at lower speeds than that of the actual wind within the flow.
24

2. The Atmosphere
Jet Stream fast facts:
Altitude:
Thickness:
Width:
Min.speed:
Average wind speed:
Max.speed:
Direction:

bottom at about 9.5 km (upper troposphere)

4-5 km
~500 km
93 km/h
~150 km/h
~480 km/h
East

Jet Stream

Location of the jet stream at the time

of the Thursday lecture, Thu 5 Sep 2012
(Source: www.weather.ca).

25

2. The Atmosphere
There are two main jet streams at polar latitudes, one in each hemisphere, and two minor
subtropical streams closer to the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the streams are
most commonly found between latitudes 30N and 70N for the polar jet stream, and between
latitude 20N and 50N for the subtropical stream. The wind speeds vary according to the
temperature gradient, averaging 55 km/h (35 mph) in summer and 120 km/h (75 mph) in
winter, although speeds of over 400 km/h (250 mph) are also known. Technically the wind
speed has to be higher than 90 km/h (55 mph) to be called a jet stream.
The location of the jet stream is an extremely important datum for airlines. In the United States
and Canada, for example, the time needed to fly East across the continent can be decreased
by about 30 minutes if an airplane can fly with the jet stream, or increased by the same amount
if it must fly West against it. On international flights, the difference is even greater, and it is
often actually faster flying Eastbound in the jet stream than taking the great circle route
between two points.
Jet streams were first discovered during World War II by Wiley Post and military pilots
flying bombers at high altitudes. The theory was explained by Erik Palmn and other
members of the so-called Chicago school of dynamical meteorologists. The first practical use
of jet streams was presumably the Japanese fire balloon attacks on the American mainland
later during the war.
26